, yes it did. Obligatory alimony and entitling women for inheritance and private property were all revolutionary for its time.
A definite conclusion can only be drawn if, like yeezvee says, the life of women
prior to the coming of Islam were known from
purely historical sources and compared to their life after Islam.
If Khadija's life
prior to islam were to be taken as an indicator then definitely their position has deteriorated after Islam ! The 'wild and free women' have been conveniently tamed by the injunctions of the holy quran. As it's the alleged 'WORD OF GOD', the poor women have been trapped comprehensively by the machinations of patriarchy.
If she was an exception to the rule, like you seem to imply then IT hasn't really done much to improve their position, has IT?
You need a severe infection of the
kope virus to be able to see the women in Islam as freer than their non Muslim sisters especially in the West.
I reiterate that something like women's liberty has to be embedded in a culture's ethos and
can't be legislated or enforced by any stupid religion's injunctions.
But alas! man's social progress has lagged behind his great scientific progress, because of the veiling influence of things like religion that prevent the acceleration of social evolution to keep pace with the progress of science.